The Smashing Pumpkins setup was pretty amazing. They had this gigantic white ball (think Rover from the Prisoner only one hundred time its size and you get the idea) with video and images projected on it.
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Metric opened up the show. We‚Äôre big fans of the Canadian band since hearing ‚ÄúCombat Baby‚Äù (a song that they no longer play live) and having seen them nine times now (if you count Emily Haines solo or Broken Social Scene). Part of the appeal is that they just write really driving, catchy rock songs. Lately, the band seems to be trying to build new audiences by supporting big acts like Imagine Dragons or Silversun Pickups, but personally speaking, sometime I think they should headline instead.

As usual, singer Emily Haines looks incredible, and she‚Äôll dance up a storm on some songs like ‚ÄúDressed to Suppress‚Äù and ‚ÄúGold Guns Girls‚Äù (this is my current favorite Metric song).

With these type of stadium shows, the band is only allowed to play thirty minutes, so they played a few old favorites, and also giving us a brand new song, ‚ÄúDark Saturday.‚Äù The single is a preview of their upcoming yet-to-be-titled 2018 album. Before you knew it, they had to wrap things up with another favorite, ‚ÄúHelp I'm Alive‚Äù from their 2009 album Fantasies.

The last time Smashing Pumpkins came to town, it was October 2010 at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. While it was great to see the band, it really felt like it was simply the ‚ÄúBilly Corgan Band‚Äù, as none of the original members were part of the tour. Plus, the fact that they played the entire (then brand new album) Oceania, it was hard to recommend the 2012 tour to just casual fans.

With the 30th Anniversary Reunion tour that band leader Billy Corgan reunited all the original band members (James Iha on guitars, Jimmy Chamberlin on drums), with the exception of D‚Äôarcy Wretzky. She‚Äôs replaced by Jack Bates (Peter Hook‚Äôs son), with additional guitarist Jeff Schroeder for this lineup. There is a he-said/she-said debate on why D‚Äôarcy isn‚Äôt back on the reunion tour, but you get the feeling that there‚Äôs still some bad blood between the two.

If you had to see one Smashing Pumpkins tour, it would have to be this one. Even before the show started, we were shown a video showcasing SP‚Äôs various albums, with Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness drawing in the biggest cheer from the crowd.

The band cranked out about two dozen fan-favorite songs for this tour, throwing in a couple of cover songs that inspired and influenced the band - among them, faithful renditions of David Bowie‚Äôs ‚ÄúSpace Oddity‚Äù and Led Zeppelin‚Äôs ‚ÄúStairway to Heaven‚Äù.

Billy Corgan‚Äôs vision for this greatest hits/reunion tour was divided in four acts, with a video of Sugar Ray‚Äôs Mark McGrath shown between each set. Of course, SP saved the biggest hits for last, starting with ‚Äú1979‚Äù (which they did not play on the last tour) and ending with singalong classic ‚ÄúBullet With Butterfly Wings‚Äù.